The Jungle

Description: Season 3, Episode 12

Air Date: December 1, 1961

Plot Summary: A business man finds himself cursed after a corporate visit to Africa.

Review: I think this easily ranks as one of the worst episodes. It's bizarre, because the story hardly even fits TZ's usual narrative structure. While I'm all for greedy corporate sleaze getting their comeuppance, this has got to be one of the dumbest presentations of said comeuppance. All that happens is a guy and his wife come back from a trip to Africa where the guy's company is establishing a hydroelectric plant. I suppose they've screwed over the locals or whatever, and this has led to a shaman or shamans cursing the man (and presumably the corporation). Knowing of the alleged magic, the wife had a few charms to ward off a curse, but the main guy doesn't want to believe. After schooling his bitchy chums on superstitions, the main guy goes for a little drink. Suddenly finding himself all alone in New York City somehow, the man's car won't start and he must walk home. The guy thinks he hears cornball jungle soundbites, and this scares him for whatever reason. Coming across a bum used for filler, the main guy manages to weird out even the bum. Managing to run all the way home from those deadly soundbites, the guy goes to check on his wife only to find a hungry lion. The end--just like that! I don't think I have ever seen another episode end so abruptly before. Come on, son, you gotta do better than this. There was hardly a story, the atmosphere is weak when that's what they were relying on most, and the idiocy is strong with this one; I mean, you've got the nonsense with the taxi driver passing out and the main guy too stupid to drive the taxi himself! There's not much to say except this is almost guaranteed to make the top 10 worst episode list.